Single-axis solar tracker and solar power installation

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a single-axis solar tracker and solar power installation. The tracker comprising:
         a row H 1  of coplanar and adjacent solar panels P secured to a horizontal common rotating shaft E 1;      a support structure wherein said common rotating shaft E 1  is rotatably mounted,   actuation means with a geared motor M in connection with a part P 1  in the form of a circular sector secured to the common rotating shaft E 1,  and   a support base B 1  attached to the ground wherein said support structure and said geared motor M are secured.       

     The solar power installation comprises the solar tracker proposed with its actuation mechanism in mechanical connection with a series of actuation mechanisms of other solar trackers included in the installation.

SECTOR OF THE ART

In a first aspect the present invention generally relates to asingle-axis solar tracker of those comprising a series of solar panelswhich are oriented with respect to the orientation of the sun pivotingabout a common shaft by means of an actuation mechanism including ageared motor, for the purpose of obtaining the greatest possibleincidence of solar radiation over the solar panels at all times, andparticularly to a solar tracker the geared motor of which is secured toa support base of the solar tracker.

The second aspect of the invention relates to a solar power installationcomprising the solar tracker proposed by the first aspect with itsactuation mechanism in mechanical connection with a series of actuationmechanisms of other solar trackers included in the installation.

PRIOR STATE OF THE ART

Many single-axis solar trackers with different structural configurationsand actuation mechanisms are known.

Patent EP1169604B1 describes a single-axis solar tracker supported by apost secured to a first support base, and which comprises actuationmeans secured to a second support base distanced from the first.

Utility model ES-A-1046171 also describes one such single-axis solartracker, which comprises a mechanism responsible for pivoting a shaft ofseveral solar panels, formed by a towline guided by pulleys displacing asemicircular part coupled to said shaft.

Said utility model describes a device including a geared motordisplacing a linear actuator, inside of which the mentioned towline isdriven, the ends of which are secured in said semicircular part.

Both the geared motor and the linear actuator are arranged on the samesupport structure in which the solar panels are rotatably mountedthrough a common rotating shaft.

In addition a biaxial tracker which uses an actuation mechanism similarto that of utility model ES-A-1046171 for inclining the rows of solarpanels that it supports, but with the difference that instead using atowline which travels along pulleys for displacing the semicircular partcoupled to the shaft of the solar panels, it uses a chain displaced by acorresponding motor along gears or cogwheels, is also known throughapplication ES-A-2308910, property of the present applicant.

The present inventors are not aware of single-axis solar trackers theactuation means of which include a semicircular part as those describedin two of the patent documents mentioned where the geared motorresponsible for displacing is secured to the same support base to whichis secured the support structure of the solar panels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Offering an alternative to the state of the art which covers the gapsfound in the same indicated in the previous section is necessary.

To that end, in a first aspect, the present invention relates to asingle-axis solar tracker comprising, is a known manner:

-   -   a row of coplanar and adjacent solar panels secured to a        horizontal common rotating shaft;    -   a support structure in which said common rotating shaft is        rotatably mounted,    -   actuation means for rotating said common rotating shaft for the        purpose of orienting said row of solar panels with respect to        the position of the sun, said actuation means comprising a        geared motor in connection with a part in the form of a circular        sector secured to said common rotating shaft, coaxially with the        same or with its slightly displaced geometric axis.

Unlike the conventional proposals the solar tracker proposed by thepresent invention comprises a support base attached to the ground inwhich both said support structure and said geared motor is secured.

In general the geared motor is secured to the support base such that theoutput rotation shaft thereof, or the shaft of an outer reducing phaseif it is the case, is aligned with the common rotating shaft in the samevertical plane, or slightly displaced.

For some embodiments the tracker proposed comprises more than one row ofsolar panels, and more than one support structure.

In the solar tracker proposed by the first aspect of the invention, thewidth of each panel, transversally to the mentioned common rotatingshaft, i.e. the width of the row of panels is advantageously greaterthan the distance between the common rotating shaft and the support basewhich is secured to the ground.

Likewise since the solar tracker proposed by the invention does notinclude a linear actuator, in contrary to the tracker of the utilitymodel ES-A-1046171, the width occupied by the actuation means is alsoconsiderably reduced in comparison with said utility model, and thestresses suffered by the support structure is reduced, which in the caseof said utility model, are much greater due to the said supportstructure supporting the geared motor and the linear operator associatedthereto.

With such dimensioning the solar tracker proposed will have a very smallheight in comparison with the known single-axis solar trackers, causinga greater compactness, and above all the torque exerted by the gearedmotor for displacing the semicircular part, and thereby the solarpanels, is likewise much lower than that needed for inclining the solarpanels of the taller conventional trackers.

A second aspect of the present invention relates to a solar powerinstallation comprising a solar tracker like that proposed by the firstaspect of the invention, a plurality of similar solar trackers bothwhich lack a geared motor, and transmission mechanisms for transmittingthe rotation of the geared motor of the solar tracker of the presentinvention to all the other solar trackers.

Both the solar tracker proposed by the first aspect and the solar powerinstallation proposed by the second aspect are applied to harness solarenergy for any known purpose, from that referring to the obtaining ofelectrical energy, i.e. in the field of photovoltaic, to that referringto the heating of a fluid circulating through pipes heated by the solarpanels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other advantages and features will be betterunderstood from the following detailed description of severalembodiments in reference to the attached drawings which must beinterpreted in an illustrative and non-limiting manner, in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are respective elevational side views showing the solartracker proposed by the first aspect of the present invention from twoopposite sides, for an embodiment, as well as two connecting rodsforming part of a transmission mechanism provided for mechanicallyinterconnecting the proposed solar tracker with another two solartrackers;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to that of FIG. 1 but for another alternativeembodiment for which the proposed solar tracker has a support structuredifferent from that of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a elevational side view showing the solar tracker of FIG. 1with a rail secured to the support base of another solar tracker,through which the geared motor has been removed in a guided manner fromthe proposed solar tracker to the maintenance position illustrated;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view which illustrating the solar powerinstallation proposed by the second aspect of the invention, includingtwo adjacent solar trackers, illustrated in part, one of which is thatproposed by the first aspect of the invention according to theembodiment of FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 5 is an elevational side view of the solar power installationproposed by the invention, for an embodiment for which the lattercomprises five solar trackers, one of which, the central one, is the oneproposed by the first aspect of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the solar power installation proposed by thesecond aspect of the invention, for the same embodiment of FIG. 5,wherein each solar tracker comprises a row formed by twenty-six solarpanels.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL EMBODIMENTS

Firstly, in reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B and 4, in which the solar trackerproposed by the first aspect of the invention appears in detail, for anembodiment for which the latter comprises:

-   -   a row H1 of coplanar and adjacent solar panels P secured to a        horizontal common rotating shaft E1;    -   a support structure in which the common rotating shaft E1 is        rotatably mounted, wherein said support structure comprises a        column or beam C1, which for the embodiment illustrated has a H        cross-section, with a first end C1 a secured to an annular        bearing element A1, such as a cradle, through which the        rotatable common rotating shaft E1 is arranged, and a second end        C1 b secured to the support base B1; and    -   actuation means for rotating the common rotating shaft E1 for        the purpose of orienting the row H of solar panels with respect        to the position of the sun, said actuation means comprising a        geared motor M in connection with a part P1 in the form of a        circular sector, particularly a semicircular part, secured to        the common rotating shaft E1, coaxially with the same or with        its geometric axis slightly displaced with respect to E1.

In FIG. 4 only part of the row H1 of panels P is seen, the rest have notbeen illustrated so that the elements of the solar tracker S1 proposedby the first aspect of the invention can be seen in greater detail. Thecomplete row H1 is seen in FIG. 6, illustrating a solar powerinstallation which incorporates the tracker S1.

As seen in said FIGS. 1A, 1B and 4, the tracker proposed comprises asupport base B1 attached to the ground (not illustrated), or to anyother support surface considered convenient, in which the supportstructure, particularly the beam C1, and the geared motor M is securedby corresponding securing means, such as screws T2 for the case of thebeam C1, and screws T1 for securing the geared motor M to the supportbase B1.

In particular, the geared motor M is linked to an outer reducing phaseRe, both secured to the support base B1 through a frame or support part3.

The geared motor M, or the geared motor M plus the outer reducing phaseRe assembly, is connected to the semicircular part P1 by means of atraction operated flexible element which for the embodiment of FIGS. 1A,1B and 4 has not been illustrated, but which is of the same typeillustrated in FIG. 2, for the alternative embodiment depicted therein,which will subsequently be described.

Continuing with the description of the securing means for securing thegeared motor M to the support base B1, through the frame 3, the latterare releasable securing means for securing/releasing the geared motor Mwith respect to the support base B1, which releasing, for the case wherethe securing means are screws T1, is performed by simply unscrewing themfrom the support base B1.

Generally such releasing is done to perform geared motor M maintenancework (or its replacement if necessary). For facilitating suchmaintenance work, the solar tracker comprises, as seen particularly inFIGS. 3 and 4, a rail 2 in which the geared motor M, and the outerreducing phase Re together with the frame 3 is guided, for removing themin a guided manner from the support base B1 once released from the same,they are being carried for example to the space available between twosolar trackers, the one proposed by the invention, indicated as S1 inFIGS. 3 and 4, and the adjacent one indicated as S2.

For the embodiment illustrated by said FIGS. 3 and 4, said rail 2 issecured to a vertical beam 5 secured to the support base B1 and toanother beam 6 secured to a support base B8 of said adjacent tracker S2(the tracker S2 particularly comprises two beams 6, located on eitherside of a crank M1), although for other non-illustrated embodiments, therail 2 can be extended from S1 to said available space and secured tothe ground without the need of reaching the tracker S2.

As seen in FIGS. 1B and 4, the beam 5 is laterally displaced accordingto the direction of the rail 2 with respect to the beam C1, in order tonot interfere with the arrangement of the geared motor M in the supportbase B1, for which the latter adopts an L-shaped, the beam 5 beingsecured on one of the branches of the L and the beam C1 being secured onthe other branch of said L, in an inside side of which the frame 3 issecured.

How a small beam portion 7 secured to a corresponding annular bearingelement A2, through which the rotatable common rotating shaft E1 isarranged, in order to better support the weight of the shaft E1 and ofthe elements which the latter supports, is secured on the rail 2 is alsoshown in FIG. 3.

The tracker S1 comprises a plurality of additional support structures,particularly vertical beams, one of which is illustrated in FIG. 4indicated by reference number 11, in which the common rotating shaft E1is rotatably mounted at different points distanced length-wise, and aplurality of support bases B2-B7 (see FIG. 6) in each of which one ofsaid beams is secured.

FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative embodiment for which the proposedsolar tracker has a support structure comprising two parallel standards,on either side of the mentioned part P1 in the form of a circularsector, each of them formed by two beams converging at a first end beingsecured in an annular bearing element A1, through which the rotatablecommon rotating shaft E1 is arranged, said beams being secured at secondends in the mentioned support base B1 and the geared motor M beingarranged between the two beams of one or both of said standards.

FIG. 2 only illustrates one of said standards formed by beams C2 and C3,wherein the mentioned converging first ends have been indicated as C2a-C3 a and the mentioned second ends as C2 b-C3 b.

It can be seen in FIG. 2 how for an embodiment illustrated therein thesupport base B1 comprises two blocks B1 a, B1 b separated from oneanother, each of said second ends C2 b-C3 b of said beams C2-C3 beingsecured to a respective block of said two blocks B1 a, B1 b, and thegeared motor M secured to the two blocks B1 a, B1 b.

Said FIG. 2 shows how the actuation means of the tracker illustratedtherein comprise a traction operated flexible element 4, indicatedsymbolically, such as a chain, which travels along cogwheels R1, R2, R3,one of which, in particular R2, is connected to the shaft Me of thegeared motor M to be displaced by the same, said chain 4 being securedat its two end to two respective points of the semicircular part P1, forrotationally displacing it by traction.

A second aspect of the invention relates to a solar power installationcomprising a solar tracker S1 such as that proposed by the first aspectof the invention, a plurality of similar solar trackers S2, S3, S4, S5,the actuation means of which lack a geared motor, and transmissionmechanisms for transmitting the rotation of the geared motor M to allthe solar trackers S2-S5.

As particularly seen in FIG. 5, said transmission mechanism comprises aseries of connecting rods D1-D4 and a series of cranks M1-M4, each ofthem connected to a respective common rotating shaft E2-E5 of one ofsaid solar trackers S2-S5.

Particularly two of said connecting rods D1, D2 are articulatelyconnected at one end to the part P1 in the form of a circular sector(see in detail in FIGS. 1B and 2), and at their other ends to tworespective cranks M1, M2 of two S2, S4 of said solar trackers, asillustrated in FIG. 5. The rest of the connecting rods D3, D4 arearticulately connected at each of their ends to a respective crank M3,M4 of the rest of the solar trackers S3, S5, interconnecting all thecranks M1-M4 and said part P1 in the form of a circular sector, of allthe solar trackers S1-S5, such that the movement produced by the gearedmotor M of the solar tracker S1 is transmitted to the cranks M1-M4 ofthe rest of the solar trackers S2-S5, and to the rotating shafts E2-E5which are secured to the same.

A person skilled in the art will be able to introduce changes andmodifications to the embodiments described without departing from thescope of the invention as defined in the attached claims.

1-14. (canceled)
 15. A single-axis solar tracker of the type comprising:at least one row (H1) of coplanar and adjacent solar panels (P), securedto a horizontal common rotating shaft (E1); at least one supportstructure wherein said common rotating shaft (E1) is rotatably mounted,actuation means for rotating said common rotating shaft (E1) for thepurpose of orienting said row (H1) of solar panels with respect to theposition of the sun, said actuation means comprising at least one gearedmotor (M) in connection with at least one part (P1) in the form of acircular sector secured to said common rotating shaft (E1), coaxiallywith the same or with its geometric axis slightly displaced therefrom,and at least one support base (B1) attached to the ground wherein saidat least one support structure and said geared motor (M) are secured,characterized in that the solar tracker further comprises releasablesecuring means for securing/releasing said geared motor (M) from thesupport base (B1), and in that it comprises a rail (2) wherein saidgeared motor (M) is guided, for removing the geared motor (M) in aguided manner from the support base (B1) once released from the same.16. The solar tracker according to claim 15, wherein said at least onesupport structure comprises at least one column (C1) with a first end(C1 a) secured to an annular bearing element (A1), through which saidcommon rotating shaft (E1) is rotatably arranged, and a second end (C1b) secured to said at least one support base (B1).
 17. The solar trackeraccording to claim 16, further comprising a single support base (B1),and in that said geared motor (M) is secured to said support base (B1)such that the output rotation shaft thereof is aligned with said commonrotating shaft (E1) in the same vertical plane.
 18. The solar trackeraccording to claim 15, wherein that said support structure comprises atleast two parallel trestles, on either side of the mentioned part (P1)in the form of a circular sector, each of them formed by two beams(C2-C3) converging at a first end (C2 a-C3 a) being secured in anannular bearing element (A1), through which the mentioned commonrotating shaft (E1) is rotatably arranged, said beams (C2-C3) beingsecured at second ends (C2 b-C3 b) in the mentioned at least one supportbase (B1), and the geared motor being arranged between the two beams(C2-C3) of at least one of said trestles.
 19. The solar trackeraccording to claim 18, wherein said support base (B1) comprises at leasttwo blocks (B1 a, B1 b) separated from one another, each of said secondends (C2 b-C3 b) of said beams (C2-C3) being secured to one respectiveblock of said two blocks (B1 a, B1 b).
 20. The solar tracker accordingto claim 19, wherein that said geared motor (M) is secured to said twoblocks (B1 a, B1 b).
 21. The solar tracker according to claim 15,wherein that said geared motor (M) is secured to said support base (B1)through a frame or support part (3) of the geared motor (M).
 22. Thesolar tracker according to claim 15, wherein that the width of each ofthe coplanar and adjacent solar panels, transversally to the mentionedcommon rotating shaft (E1), is greater than the distance between saidcommon rotating shaft (E1) and said support base (B1).
 23. The solartracker according to claim 15, further comprising a plurality ofadditional support structures (11) wherein said common rotating shaft(E1) is rotatably mounted at different points distanced length-wise, anda plurality of support bases (B2-B7), in each of which at least one ofsaid plurality of additional support structures (11) is secured.
 24. Thesolar tracker according to claim 15, wherein said actuation meanscomprise a traction operated flexible element (4) which travels alongseveral cogwheels (R1, R2, R3), at least one (R2) of which in connectionwith the shaft (Me) of said geared motor (M) to be displaced by thesame, said chain (4) being secured at its two ends to two respectivepoints of said semicircular part (P1) for displacing it rotationally bytraction.
 25. A solar power installation comprising the solar tracker(S1) according to claim 15, further comprising a plurality of analogoussolar trackers (S2, S3, S4, S5), an actuation means of which lack ageared motor, and transmission mechanisms for transmitting rotation ofthe geared motor (M) to all the solar trackers.
 26. The solar powerinstallation according to claim 25, wherein said transmission mechanismscomprise a series of connecting rods (D1-D4) and a series of cranks(M1-M4), each of them connected to a respective common rotating shaft(E2-E5) of one of said analogous solar trackers (S2-S5).
 27. The solarpower installation according to claim 26, wherein two of said connectingrods (D1, D2) are articulately connected at one end to said part (P1) inthe form of a circular sector, and at their other ends to two respectivecranks (M1, M2) of two (S2, S4) of said solar trackers, and the rest ofthe connecting rods (D3, D4) are articulately connected at each of theirends to a respective crank (M3, M4) of the rest of said solar trackers(S3, S5), interconnecting all the cranks (M1-M4) and said part (P1) inthe form of a circular sector, of all the solar trackers (S1-S5), suchthat the movement produced by the geared motor (M) of the solar tracker(51) according to one of claims 1 to 11 is transmitted to the cranks(M1-M4) of the rest of solar trackers (S2-S5), and to the rotatingshafts (E2-E5) which are secured thereto.